In Hong Kong in 2014 the song Raise Your Umbrella by Denise Ho and Anthong Wong became an anthem for the pro-democracy movement known as the Umbrella Revolution. The song was written after police fired tear gas into the crowds when protestors filled the streets.
The Youth Activist Art Archive (YAAA) is a dedicated platform that highlights and celebrates the creative efforts of young individuals (26 years old and younger) actively participating in diverse social movements and causes. YAAA acknowledges the vital role and innovative vision of young activists who employ their artistic talents to envision and advocate for a brighter future.
The user muchachafanzine on instagram is an activist who writes a "decolonial native xicana feminist fanzine". They are an online activist and they spread their message through their page, the zine, and through merchandise. Daisy Salinas began Muchacha Fanzine as a feminist punk zine in 2011. Over the years, Muchacha has grown into a larger, submission-based compilation of work by marginalized voices from around the world.
Last night I attended an Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Assault
Speak Out, where people across campus from the LGBT community and
coalitions of color came together in one sacred space to share their
stories with strangers. For many, including me, it was the first time we
spoke out publicly. It was empowering. It was liberating. Rarely do I
let myself shed tears over my repressed memories, yet I cried over every
Lawmakers in a Utah House committee soundly rejected a bill that would have penalized doctors for giving gender-affirming health care to minors, then moments later approved legislation that included similar restrictions on transgender health care — minus the punishment — on party line during a lengthy committee meeting Tuesday.
This work addresses inequalities and disparities experienced specifically by LGTBIQ peoples in Spain. In the heart of this picture are six individuals dressed in queer fashion walking and linking arms. This is a powerful depiction. Usually, especially in a global context, it is unsafe for queer people to brave the streets alone. Here in Pozo’s work this represents pride without fear.
Fabled Asp is a multimedia online archive that documents forty years of activist history and creativity. Disabled lesbian activism is a radical assertion of self in the face of societal stigma and marginalization. The project illuminates the myriad ways disabled lesbians have been moving against invisibility through civil rights actions, theater, dance, sports, and visual arts.
For the completion of her residency as the NYU Steinhardt 2023-24 Scholar-in-Residence, Dominique Jackson collaborated with NYU students to honor the fem queen (trans women) and their historical meaning to not only ballroom but popular culture at large.
April 2nd, 2016, organized by members of the Aids Coalition to Unleash Power faction in London, five activists stormed London's Gilead Pharmaceutical offices and frantically disrobed to reveal painted backs spelling out the word 'Greed." About 30 other activists rallied outside the building.
“Art is so often only experienced through looking,” artist Caitlin Rose Sweet explained to The Huffington Post. “It’s a short pathway from the eyes to the brain. I want the whole body involved.”
Missourians are fighting against legislation that would essentially make it legal to bully against LGBT students in the state’s schools. From the activists' site (http://oktosaygay.org/):
In the early 1980s Keith Haring created hundreds of drawings in the New York subway system. He used chalk to paint on unused advertising space, which was covered with black sheets of paper. Haring was caught and fined numerous times.
Following the backlash of Netflix's support of Dave Chappelle's "The Closer" comedy special, which featured racist transphobic "jokes", Hannah Gadsby took a deal with Netflix to create a comedy special featuring genderqueer comics. The show, titled 'Gender Agenda', was tapped in the Alexandra Palace Theatre in London and released on Netflix on March 5, 2024.
“The Feminist Zine Fest showcases the work of artists and zine makers of all genders who identify on the feminist spectrum, and whose politics are reflected in their work. For the second consecutive year, Barnard proudly hosts the zine fest, welcoming approximately 40 zine-makers eager to share their work.
On January 21, 2014, McDonald’s asked its customers to tweet supportive messages to the Olympians who would compete in the Sochi Games, along with the hashtag #CheersToSochi. However, within a couple of days, LGBT activists essentially hijacked the hasthtag from McDonalds.
Laura Poitras’s Academy Award–nominated documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022) about photographer Nan Goldin is a powerful and thoughtfully constructed film. Focusing on Goldin’s work with the activist group Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN), it allows viewers to continue appreciating the ongoing rebellion and inspiration of this singular artist.
Serene colors and technical set pieces create a surreal ambience as performers delicately hover into the black void above the stage. These performers belong to Kinetic Light, an "internationally-recognized disability arts ensemble". In 2022, the ensemble performed Wired, a "potent contemporary aerial dance performance that explores race, gender, and disability stories of barbed wire in the United States".
War Drags You Out is a project by artist "Saint Hoax" looking at the similarities between defining characteristics of Drag Queens and Political Leaders.
Text from St. Hoax's website:
"After attending a drag show for the first time, I was struck by the richness of this glamour oriented culture.
I took a minute to actually look at the faux queens and deconstruct their main components.
“Cabaret Con-Sensual is an effort comprised of actors, dancers, comedians, producers, writers, and other artists who strive to champion consent and discuss rape-culture through the subversive, yet expressive medium of the performing arts.”
The show was created by Bitsy La Bourbon, founder of the anti rape campaign and non profit organization More Than No.
Cassils' Becoming an Image confronts issues of queer and trans visibility, bodily violence, and the politics of witnessing. The performance uses a powerful blend of media—including live action in darkness, flash photography, clay sculpture, and sound—to explore how trauma and resilience are physically and symbolically inscribed onto the queer body.
After winning the TED Prize on March 2, 2011, the French-artist JR launched the Inside Out Project, in his first TED Talk. Using his own artistic practice as inspiration, this participatory platform helps individuals and communities to make a statement by displaying large-scale black and white portraits in public spaces. Through their “Actions,” communities around the world have sparked collaborations and conversations.
In May 1992, a series of 24 billboards displaying an identical image began appearing throughout New York City. They featured a giant close-up black-and-white photograph, without text, of a rumpled bed, pillows still indented from the heads that had rested there.
Marriage equality activism has taken aim at a new platform for global exposure: facebook.
The social media website has seen swarms of users change their profile picture to a red image with a pink equal sign on top, signifying the user's support of marriage equality. Other users are using a blue image with a yellow equal sign, the Human Rights Campaign logo.